My first post on the forum, so hi guys. I was swayed to sign up, really, by some of the abuse Del Rio was getting and I want to defend him a little and show my own opinion a little.

I am hispanic... and I've liked Alberto Del Rio even since his days in CMLL as Dos Caras, I was excited to see him and Mistico come to WWE. It was unsurprising WWE chose to package Del Rio as a heel as I believe I read an interview with him which stated he wanted to give it a shot and towards the end of his run with CMLL he worked as a rudo. I found his new choice of gimmick strange but loved the character since he debuted, I was disappointed with the way WWE treated him though, I felt they pushed him way too quickly and - a lot like Sheamus - he was shoved down our throats, I do not feel he really did enough to become a hated heel and as such the crowd were often quiet during his matches.

His face build up and this title win have been fantastic, in my opinion. I am surprised anybody is saying that the crowd are not behind him, the reaction the past few weeks (albeit I've only watched on TV although you can still visibly see the reaction) has been amazing and the title win actually felt like it meant something. Perhaps he is a transitional champion but that title win was one of the most memorable moments in recent history, I was genuinely shocked when he won it though I felt it was a little unfair on Big Show (I thought his recent run was actually working quite well). The fact it was on a regular Smackdown amplified the victory somewhat but only because I was totally thrown by the result of the match - I thankfully did not have the result spoilt for me by WWE beforehand, which probably helped.

As for people saying it was stupid that after 3 attempts Sheamus could not win and Del Rio did it first time, well, remember that it was not technically a clean victory. Rodríguez lowered Del Rio's foot to stop the 10 count after the knock out punch.

Rodríguez is a genius, inside and out of the ring. The whole being bullied and defended by Del Rio gimmick is really working, though it cannot last forever so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I feel they could really have something (even after Del Rio inevitably and probably abruptly loses the title) with Del Rio training his ring announcer to become a wrestler himself.

I think Del Rio, overall, is a great performer and athlete who does not lack charisma at all and his reaction after that title win actually restored some integrity and emotion to the belt which has really been lacking. I just pray they do not take his character the Cena/Sheamus route of being a stale, jokey face. He needs to incorporate some heel elements still and come off as a "badass" while pandering to the crowd (with Rodríguez, I guess, being the catalyst).